Welcome to Issue #007 of SoloLIVE! Each week, I’ll share practical tips to streamline your solo business, right from my desk, to help you escape the grind and create a life on your terms.
Crickets Aren’t Confirmation
You pour time and hope into your solo business, hit 'publish,' and… silence. It’s a universal pain—most solopreneurs don’t know if their work is landing or if it’s missing the mark entirely. The sting of ‘no reply’ is real, but here’s the truth: silence doesn’t mean your idea is wrong. It means your feedback loop is broken—or even missing.
The Lifeblood You’re Missing
Feedback isn’t a vanity metric - it’s oxygen for a one-person business. It’s how you validate ideas, fine-tune your offer, and avoid months of wasted effort. The challenge? Most solo creators, especially at the start, face tiny audiences and little engagement. Without enough honest input, it’s easy to drift, make wrong turns, or quit early. But right now, you have access to a level playing field - AI-powered tools can turn even the quietest audience into a source of sustainable growth, giving you the clarity top founders once paid thousands for.
Creating in a Vacuum - And Paying for It
The hardest days come when you’re building alone - no back-and-forth, all blind spots, zero affirmation. You tweak things endlessly, second-guess decisions, and pivot out of desperation rather than insight. Sometimes you launch and hear nothing back. Other times, enthusiastic “likes” vanish when it’s time to buy. Wasted launches, stagnant lists, and burnt-out solopreneurs usually trace back to not having a system for gathering, interpreting, and acting on feedback. The result? Imposter syndrome, loss of momentum, and a cycle that throttles both growth and confidence.
How Arvid Kahl Broke the Silence
Arvid Kahl, author and serial bootstrapped founder, knows the silence well. Early in his solo journey, he shipped products to an audience that rarely responded. At first, he tried to guess what people wanted—tinkering quietly, then launching into the void, only to feel let down. But when Arvid leaned into building in public, he realized feedback wasn’t about waiting for a signal - it was about engineering one.
He began posting drafts, sharing micro-ideas, and crucially - inviting specific questions through Twitter polls and lightweight surveys. When even that fell short, Arvid turned to AI tools: sentiment analyzers to scan email replies, simple chatbots to field audience questions 24/7, and tools like ChatGPT to summarize open comments quickly. The result? Within weeks his audience doubled their engagement. Products shaped around audience pain points started selling faster, and feedback - now richer and more actionable - became the foundation for every pivot. Arvid’s biggest insight: sustainable growth isn’t about shouting louder, but listening smarter.
Here’s how you can do this, too.
AI-Driven Feedback Loops - Your New Secret Weapon
It’s time to make feedback a system, not a wish. Here’s the AI-augmented loop:
Draft and Distribute: Use Typeform or Google Forms with AI add-ons to design engaging, open-ended surveys (keep it short, make it personal).
Automate Collection: Create an always-on chatbot (ChatGPT-powered) to answer site questions and prompt for feedback at decision points.
Analyze Instantly: Use sentiment analysis tools (like MonkeyLearn or even built-in GPT integrations) to summarize and categorize responses - no more reading 100s of replies alone.
Act and Iterate: Feed results back into your roadmap. Show changes publicly; let your audience know you’re building with them, not just for them.
Example: After launching, add an “After reading, what’s missing? Tell me here [link]” - then use AI to group responses and uncover your top three leverage points for the next week.
This system doesn’t just save time - it creates a sustainable engine for validation, improvement, and trust.
Build Your Loop This Week
Don’t overcomplicate it. Grab a free survey tool, ask your list or followers one honest question (“What’s your #1 struggle in [X] right now?”), and plug the responses into ChatGPT for insight. Set up a lightweight chatbot on your site - even a basic FAQ can double as a feedback collector. Next, share one thing you’ve changed based on what you heard. As you grow, refine the process with more advanced tools - but start simple. The goal is momentum, not perfection.
When Did You Last Ask?
Here’s your nudge: When was the last time you directly asked for feedback - and did something with it? Too many solopreneurs get stuck guessing. Break the silence. Reply to this email (or comment) with your biggest feedback win… or question. Growth starts with one loop.
That’s all for today. See you next week.